SCHOOL NAMED IN ABUSE PROBE
More institutions to be investigated
Queen Victoria School in Dunblane is under investigation by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
The school for children whose parents are in the armed forces is added to the list with the former Royal Scottish National Hospital in Larbert, which catered for children and adults with learning disabilities until the early 1990s.
The two are among 17 new additions to the list of 69 institutions identified by the inquiry up to now.
Already on the list are the former St Ninians School in Gartmore, run by the De La Salle Brothers, and Ballikinrain School, near Balfron, run by the Church of Scotland’s Crossreach programme.
In recent years allegations of historic child abuse at QVS, which is funded by the Ministry of Defence, have appeared in a number of stories in the national media.
The main focus of the articles were claims made by a former housemaster,
Glenn Harrison, who in the early ‘90s reported to police that pupils were being preyed upon, claiming that boys were often taken away by adults for unofficial overnight trips with dignitaries, and that sexual abuse and bullying in the dormitories was ignored.
His claims were passed to the Scottish Government’s historic child abuse inquiry in 2015.
NHS Forth Valley meanwhile still appear to be in the dark over the details of the RSNH investigation but had been advised that the former hospital, which closed in 1991, had been included on the inquiry’s list.
A board spokeswoman said: “We have no further details at this stage but will cooperate fully with the inquiry.”
The inquiry into historic abuse gathers information from institutions who provided care. Once a sufficient amount of evidence is gathered, it is then decided if the institution should form part of a case study at a public hearing. The inquiry also considers the most effective way to present case studies at public hearings, whether a care provider should be considered on its own, or grouped with other providers.
All evidence is considered but not all institutions investigated will form part of a case study.
Lady Smith, chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, said: “Please would anyone who has any very emotional to talk about experiences in care and I want to take this opportunity to give an assurance that we have a dedicated witness support team here who will help and support anyone providing evidence to us. They will do so throughout the process.”
Case studies considering the care provided by female religious orders within the Roman Catholic Church have been completed. Lady Smith’s case study findings on the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul are due for publication in the coming weeks.
Investigations into the provision of care by the other institutions listed is ongoing, with evidence being taken from a range of witnesses, as well as the gathering of a wide range of documentary evidence. The next public hearings are set to begin in October, focusing on residential child care establishments run by large care providers Quarriers, Aberlour and Barnardo’s.
Anyone wishing to contact the inquiry can do so via: telephone at Freephone 0800 0929 300; email talktous@ childabuseinquiry.scot; or by post to PO BOX 24085, Edinburgh, EH7 9EA.
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